I'm forgetful. And it hurts when you've lost pictures of your niece's first visit to California Adventures because you left your camera on the Soarin' ride. And even after half an hour of asking the crew to search for the gear I left behind in my seat and calling the lost and found department at Disneyland-- it still hasn't turned up.

So here are some sites that I thought were pretty interesting in the case that this does happen to you:

Stolen Camera Finder: They'll search online to see if pictures taken with your camera have appeared. You just have to upload a photo of yours. In general, handy for finding your serial number-- but if the stolen camera pictures don't get posted to flickr/500px but instead go to facebook (where the EXIF data is stripped from the image)-- you won't find your camera.

STOP labels: Even if you peel the label off, there's a permanent phone number that will be stuck to the device. Mostly seems to be used on laptop devices.

I'm not convinced that adding any of those bluetooth-enabled trackers will help, which is why they're not listed here.

I am however convinced that engraving my name on my camera and probably adding a permanent label to my SD cards might help.... Hopefully this is the first and last camera I lose!

Even though the streets were filled with English coming out of the airport, I’ve never felt so lost in a developed Asian country before. Trying to figure out where to eat (or what was even good) was confusing!

I now understand why so many of my friends’ parents wanted them to be literate—you wouldn’t be very independent in Taiwan without being able to read a few words. I actually discovered that my cousins learned simplified Chinese in Singapore and actually couldn’t figure out the traditional characters either. It made for some very interesting experiences. (Also, Singaporeans have a very different mandarin accent—must be from all those other dialects that get smushed together.)

Pretty hard to order food if you're illiterate....

Kind of a mashup of Vietnam and Hong Kong—it may not have been as clean as Singapore but it was a lot cheaper and had a lot more character overall. The history of the country is a little strange (well I mean, it’s hard to really say who was right or wrong when you consider what happened in the last century as both Japan and Chiang Kai Shek did do some good for the country).

For Foodies:

Overall most things were pretty tasty and cheap. I’m still biased towards my Singaporean roots, so not every Taiwanese-style dish I tried was my favorite. However their fried donut (yu-tiau) was probably the best I’ve ever had, Ding Tai Fung is definitely better in Taiwan, and the night markets are unlike anywhere else I’ve been. But don’t go looking for fishballs here-- those are better in Singapore.

Breakfast

Best place for traditional breakfast? You can't miss it (with the woks and the lines in the morning)-- it's directly across the street from a fruit vendor and just past the local wet market on the opposite side of the street.

This place is good.

Lunch/Dinner

Jin Din Rou-- we came here because of Uncle Joe's recommendation as this place is supposedly better than Ding Tai Fung, The quality of all the dishes was amazing.

Ding Tai Fung. Where consistently good xiao long bao can always be found. I swear it's better here than the branches in LA and Singapore. Taipei 101 has a decently large place but be prepared to wait!

​DING WANG MALA GUO near the Daan MRT Station(Detailed review and our inspiration came from here)

This place is amazing. Definitely smells like a fish market from the parking lot below, but you can find everything up above. From live octopi in crates (seriously!) to durian inside of deep-fried yams (quite tasty) and a whole lot of fresh sashimi and grilled meats served at a hipster-esque stand-up sushi joint, this place is pretty awesome. Apparently the area is sectioned off depending on how you want your meats cooked (fried, raw, bbq, etc). Definitely worth a visit!

Snacks/Dessert

Mango ice. Yum!

Ice monster is pretty famous for it's mango ice.

Shaved ice is taken very seriously here! Ice Monster (this particular branch is within 2 blocks of Taipei 101) is really well known for its mango ice.

​Night Markets

Raohe Night Market; This night market had more food than the other ones we had been to. Definitely worth going to for the fresh mochi, fried pancakes, and pan fried chicken. (There are also outfits for your lap dog....)

Jiufen

Jiufen was a Japanese colony back in the day-- made to be the example colony to show the world that the Japanese were good powers to be under. Supposedly also the village/town that inspired Spirited Away. It did feel somewhat like the movie.....

There are tunnels but I didn't get to them. However I did find a waterfall a little ways on the hill past the restrooms....

Where to eat

Chicken restaurant. Have you ever seen gelatin like this on a chicken? Yum! Located on the main street in the old town sort of halfway up the hill.

Getting here

Take the regional train up to Ruifen Station from the Taipei Main Station. Don't lose that ticket! (If the machine eats it let the attendant know.) You'll then need to hop on a bus or take a cab.

Shifen

Pretty popular to launch lanterns here. (We launched one but I definitely had to suppress my thoughts on ecosystem impact). Didn't seem like a whole lot to do and the stores seemed to repeat themselves. The waterfalls were about a 30 min walk out and no one really felt like walking to see the "Niagara Falls" of Taiwan.

Places to go next time:

Redeeming quality of this island: it actually gets cool enough to do some decent hiking, and the trails are fairly well maintained, too!

Hiking here mostly consists of strolling on stone-paved trails (which do get slippery in the mist with all the moss). There's some volcanic activity (and hot springs to be found) so the area is quite popular with the locals for the variety of things to do. A decent number of trails though none of the maps I saw were really all that helpful in navigating the area. (Or finding a bus to take us back down the mountain.)

Note: The elevation changes before you get to the Juansi Waterfall are pretty brutal-- lots of slippery steps going up and down. I saw two girls wear flip flops which in my opinion was a bad idea on a wet and misty day like this. My relatives were not used to the 100s of stairs that went up and down the mountainside. I thought it was a pretty decent waterfall. They were not so impressed.

If you are going to try the Juangsi Waterfall trail: Start from the parking lot next to the hot springs....

Taipei 101 is probably the most well known building in Taipei itself. It was at one point the world's tallest building. The mass damper (that big sphere thing) is what absorbs the energy from the wind that hits the building. It is the largest damper sphere in the world. There are two observatory decks-- inside and outside, but frankly the inside one has a lot more to see-- I mean, there were tons of outdoor tracks and helicopter landing pads and things you could see from the inside deck! You can also watch the planes fly in and out of the nearby airport.

Tamsui is a small fishing town located at the end of the red line from Taipei. It seems mostly like a touristy spot for young families and couples-- and has a sort of Venice Beach/SF Fisherman's Wharf feel to it. There's a pretty famous bridge known as "Lover's Bridge" which is about a 45min ride by bus from the MRT station. Decently crowded on a Monday night.

Decent Italian food can be had if you walk from the MRT by the water past most of the shops....

A historic theater in the Taipei Ximending area-- I noticed it as we came out of the MRT to go to Ximending (which is a local night-life/young people area). Great history (most of it was in Chinese) and there are some local artists with their wares in the back. It was built when Taiwan was a Japanese colony-- originally as a market building, then a theater, and now a tourist attraction.

Yangmingshuwu (aka Zhongxing Guesthouse) was the summer residence for Chiang Kai-Shek in the mountains of Taipei. Full of historical photographs of meetings with important people (mostly Western powers) and relics from the Chiang's life (like old outfits and a watercolor stand)-- it was a pretty grand place (which made me wonder about how lavish their life must have been). Beautiful grounds with secret tunnels, alcoves for hidden guards and machine guns-- this is like Taipei's version of Hearst Castle.

The easiest way to get here is probably by taxi-- and there are roughly 4 tours that run every day (probably best to call them before you go). It didn't seem like you were allowed to wander around the premises.

The National Palace Museum is probably most famous for it's cabbage and pork belly jade carvings. Unfortunately the cabbage has been relocated to the newly opened National Palace Museum to the south (but they have pictures of it up in case you wanted a closer look). Really intricate jade carvings, woodblock prints, furniture, sculptures, cauldrons, paintings, and jewelry are located here. Apparently only 1% of the collection is displayed at any one time. If you walk to the library (which is across from the main building and behind the food court area) there is a timeline that shows roughly when things were brought to Taiwan from China. Basically Chiang Kai Shek "stole" the artifacts from Beijing and brought them (mostly on the beds of pickup trucks) across rafts and into a vault that's been dug into the side of the mountain. Apparently Chiang not only stole the artifacts but also stole most of the gold, which is why Taiwan was a force to be reckoned with in the late 40s.

Easiest way to get here: MRT then take a cab. There is a bus system that runs but it's quite a distance from the station and cabs are cheap.

Texas is pretty flat. Houston is kind of like any other major city-- full of freeway interchanges, toll roads, and skyscrapers.

I however, didn't spend that much time in the city.

I did spend a bunch of time in Sugarland (where one of my friends grew up) and at the Johnson Space Center (because, well, I figured it was worth going more than once.

A closer look at the Johnson Space Center (JSC)

A new exhibit they're constructing-- it's supposed to be finished by early 2016.

One of the tours you can hop on takes you to mission control. Unfortunately you only get to see a video feed of the newer mission control used for the space station, but there is at least the original apollo mission control (complete with ashtrays built into the seats)

Their other tour brings you to the astronaut training facility. Really impressive! (Also if you're a FIRST FRC veteran you'll probably appreciate the Robonauts' facility....)

No secret burger left, but pretty awesome nevertheless. Really rich and filling food. Man those pancakes (with the popcorn) were amazing. And that pork belly, the fried bok choy.... Alden and Harlow is a pretty cool joint and I highly recommend it!

Also Cambridge had a bunch of folks riding bikes all dressed up for Halloween. It just so happened I parked on the street that everyone was taking to what seemed like the meetup spot by the river....

Here's a place that has basically every Asian cuisine you might have been dying to have.

For example: a Malaysian restaurant with Hokkien mee and rendang and a whole bunch of other deliciousness. (Not very creative name at South Asia Malaysian Cuisine, but oh well.)

Crown Prince Dim Sum I'm pretty sure this was Crown Prince. It used to be a high-tea place but now it's just a large fancy Chinese restaurant with a bunch of fancy banquet hall rooms. It is a treat to have dimsum on such pretty porcelain plates, though!

O Mei: they really should have named it Oh Man. (Because you will be rolling out the door in a seriously satisfying food coma.)

A trip to St. Lawrence's Market: try some local cheeses, walk around downtown...